The wind is howling, the snow is blowing and your car is sitting outside waiting to chauffeur you to work. Only you have to get to the car and warm it up for your trip. And none of the kids are home to perform the chore. Be patient. Beginning in the '04 model year, General Motors will be the first automaker to offer a remote vehicle starter so you need only push a button on your key fob and the car will start and warm up while you have that second cup of coffee. The system...

You swipe a key fob at an apartment elevator that speeds you to your floor. Your smartphone sends an alert that your package has arrived. Then you head to the fitness center where Internet-connected equipment tracks your workouts. From keyless entry systems to wireless thermostats, smart technology is becoming mainstream at high-end apartment buildings in Chicago, simplifying the daily routines of residents and property managers. In many cases, tech-savvy renters are willing to...

Unlocket, a quarter-sized customized photo charm, can hang from your pet's collar or dangle from your key fob. The charms are engraveable and also can be ordered as a necklace or charm bracelet. Single charms start at $110 at www.jessicasexton.com. ---------- Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)

Q: My wife's 2004 Nissan Maxima has a sound coming from near the firewall or under the dash that sounds like water flowing back and forth when making sharp or fast turns. I've drained and pressure treated the radiator, checked the A/C drain and ran the heater at full blast. The sound goes away but eventually returns. Any ideas to the cause? - A.I., Plantation Fla. A: This sounds like poor drainage from the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) case. Although you...

I have three sons; my youngest, Owen Kyle (OK for short), is now 3. I thought I had the boys pretty well figured out by the time OK came along. We had childproofed most of the house, or so we thought. But one day when OK was 2, we learned otherwise. He desperately wanted to go outside, but his mother was busy inside and asked him to wait awhile. My engineer-to-be decided to take matters into his own hands. He couldn't unlock the outside doors, but he could open the door leading...

Q: How can I get rid of the scum that accumulates on the windows of my car? I've tried everything and am now back to using water and paper towels. - G.C., Whitehall, Pa. A; We assume you are referring to the windshield exterior. It is subject to attack from tree sap (actually aphid droppings commonly known as honey dew), road glop, gunk carried by mist and rain and fog, and so on. Cleaning it with a terrycloth towel or microfiber cloth soaked in windshield washer fluid often...

Discover Financial Services Inc. employees will be able to pay by finger at their Riverwoods headquarters' cafeteria and convenience stores as they become the first to test a new payment system. Discover, which is working with French biometrics firm Natural Security on the project and which plans to get the pilot underway in the next three months, has previously used hundreds of its employees to test new technologies including various "contactless" payments, in which credit cards are...

DETROIT (Reuters) - Subaru of America is recalling up to 47,419 cars and crossover vehicles in the United States equipped with remote starters because the engines could start on their own. The recall affects some Legacy and Outback cars from model years 2010 through 2013, Impreza sedans from 2012 and 2013, and XV Crosstrek crossover vehicles from 2013, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration....

How many physicists does it take to find a misplaced car in the mall parking lot? Two, which also is how many it took to misplace a car, and the reason those two decided to invent a device that helps absent-minded motorists find their cars. While most physicists focus on solving problems of the universe, Slav and Tatiana Lancetta turned their attention to parking lots. Of course, when a pair of physicists can't remember where they parked their car, it's...

Discover Financial Services Inc. employees will be able to pay by finger at their Riverwoods headquarters' cafeteria and convenience stores as they become the first to test a new payment system. Discover, which is working with French biometrics firm Natural Security on the project and which plans to get the pilot underway in the next three months, has previously used hundreds of its employees to test new technologies including various "contactless" payments, in which credit cards are...

You swipe a key fob at an apartment elevator that speeds you to your floor. Your smartphone sends an alert that your package has arrived. Then you head to the fitness center where Internet-connected equipment tracks your workouts. From keyless entry systems to wireless thermostats, smart technology is becoming mainstream at high-end apartment buildings in Chicago, simplifying the daily routines of residents and property managers. In many cases, tech-savvy renters are willing to...

Q. I have a 2000 Infiniti with 90,000 miles. I've done everything the dealer has suggested except his recommended 60,000-mile tune-up because it was more than $1,000. Now he tells me that since I omitted the 60,000 service, I need a major tune-up. Advice? J.D., Park Ridge A. Yes. Call the dealer and say "bye-bye." If he charges $1,000 for a regular tune-up, can't imagine what a "major" one will cost. Besides, he's referring to suggested, not required , service that includes everything except...

History is replete with famous couples-Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Sonny and Cher. Soon there will be one more-Fred and Ethel. No, not Fred and Ethel Mertz, the TV sidekicks of another famous couple, Ricky and Lucy, but "Fred and Ethel" the concept car, which soon will be brought to reality via Buick, according to informed sources with the automaker. Actually, the concept car is called the "Customer's Choice," but it was dubbed "Fred and Ethel" because one...

By Leonard Pitts, a syndicated columnist based in Washington: Knight Ridder/Tribune | April 18, 2006

The car glides to a stop in front of the hotel. Light splashes off gleaming black metal as the valet gets out. He hands the keys to my wife. Marilyn says, "These aren't my keys." The valet says, "Yes, they are." Marilyn says, a little more forcefully, "These aren't my keys. That's not my car." The valet says, "That's your car." Marilyn's brow knits in confusion. She looks at the key fob like she's never seen one before. Then she steps through the crowd of us gathered there...

DETROIT (Reuters) - Subaru of America is recalling up to 47,419 cars and crossover vehicles in the United States equipped with remote starters because the engines could start on their own. The recall affects some Legacy and Outback cars from model years 2010 through 2013, Impreza sedans from 2012 and 2013, and XV Crosstrek crossover vehicles from 2013, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration....

Unlocket, a quarter-sized customized photo charm, can hang from your pet's collar or dangle from your key fob. The charms are engraveable and also can be ordered as a necklace or charm bracelet. Single charms start at $110 at www.jessicasexton.com. ---------- Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)

If your vehicle is supposed to be your home away from home, why not equip it with a garage door opener? That's what Oldsmobile is going to do for the 1993 model year, when it begins offering a power opening sliding door on the Silhouette minivan. Just like your automatic garage door opener, the power sliding side door on the Silhouette opens or closes when you press a button. Those power control buttons are in the overhead roof console so Mom or Dad can activate it and at the...

Q. I read your weekly column and always assumed the accuracy of your answers, but after reading the answer to someone on unlocking your car by cell phone (Transportation, Oct. 17), I have my doubts. At a dinner party someone brought up how this could be done, and we, too, questioned such a thing. Fortunately, we did not go to Urban Legends Reference Pages as you did but went and tried this on my 2001 Cadillac Catera. Guess what? It opened the trunk. So if you are eager to see someone...

Q: How can I get rid of the scum that accumulates on the windows of my car? I've tried everything and am now back to using water and paper towels. - G.C., Whitehall, Pa. A; We assume you are referring to the windshield exterior. It is subject to attack from tree sap (actually aphid droppings commonly known as honey dew), road glop, gunk carried by mist and rain and fog, and so on. Cleaning it with a terrycloth towel or microfiber cloth soaked in windshield washer fluid often...